Upsetting that my 5 year old has this on his thigh buttock area. I have had him to the dermatologist and they said there wasn't much that can be done. They did do a few injections with a yeast formula to help start fighting the infection however, it's only gotten worse. They did say that they can prick them to try to clean them out and would promote healing but he has many!!! How do you tell a 5 year old not to scratch. We've been very careful not to expose our other kids but I don't need it to spread to his face because he itches at night. Any suggestions? I know some other moms had this issue and just looking to have info. We have another appointment tonight at the Dermatologist tonight. I intend to be pretty firm.
Update:
I am well aware that there is no cure all and it is highly contageous!!! No magic bullet I know. However, rather than do nothing anything that will help it not to spread or itch my son is what I am hoping for. Thanks for the Zymaderm tip. My husband picked up the last package at Walgreen's. I have read about the silver cure. We'll see. NO I don't want to torture my son at the derm's office. However, a second opinion is necessary. My son shouldn't be bleeding and miserable with itching. Thanks for the apple cider vinegar tip as well. I will try that.
They don't itch. Maybe once they break and are healing or maybe because they've been irritated from the dermatologist. My daughter got them too in the same area. Sucks but they don't bug her at all. They can take up to 2 years to go away.
The best advice I got was to leave them alone.
I've read elsewhere that Zymaderm helps with clearing it up sooner rather than later. Some suggest wiping on apple cider vinegar with a cotton pad too.
The dermatologist can't just 'make' it go away, because it is a viral infection. Your child's immune system is the main thing that will determine how long it sticks around.
They usually only do medical/surgical treatments if it gets bad enough to be impairing in some way, as it can be very distressing for a child and it doesn't prevent it from showing up elsewhere on the body.
Lucky:
Molluscum is very hard to get rid of. It is a virus in the body. It has to work itself out...it can last up to 18 months in some people...no kidding.
When my son had it - we put the LARGE bandaids on the patches at night to keep him from ripping them open.
As to treatment - there are people who have used wart remover on them...we personally did not. There is a salicylic acid that some doctors can use in really bad cases...however...it is NOT a magic cure all and doesn't always work...and from what I understand, it's painful.
Ask about cantharadin (sp?). It is a treatment they apply with the tip of a toothpick (basically)... it is extracted from something from a beetle (some people have referred to it as bug juice, lol) combined with a prescription strength wart remover.
Our derm. applied this to the few molluscom that my daughter had, and it was a complete success.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantharidin
Your derm may not want to use it, simply because of the location of the molluscom your child has. My daughter's were on her neck and legs. Not on her bottom. This matters, because the treatment causes the wart to become extremely irritated, blister, and then their body's immune system finishes it off. Somehow the irritation signals the body's immune system "hey! this thing here is a problem!".
The treatment is applied (just a TINY dot of it on each wart), covered with a bandaid for about 3 hours, then you remove the bandage (at home) and wash gently but thoroughly with soap and water. Within a day or so it will become irritated and blister (and needs to stay covered with a fresh bandaid) and then after a few weeks (I think it took about 3 weeks for my daughter) it is gone.
But you sit on your bottom/backs of your thighs, so it might be too irritating to use for that location. Can't hurt to ask your derm. though.
I also did the apple cider vinegar for my son and my SIL did it for her son. It worked well for both of us. My son only had 8 or 9 spots so I treated each one individually. First I used a q-tip to apply a little vaseline around the bump to protect the surrounding skin, be careful not to get it on the bump itself. Then I took half a cotton ball and dipped it in a 50/50 mixture of ACV and water (full strength ACV was too strong for my son, too irritating). I used paper first aid tape to hold it in place overnight (paper tape is the least irritating). Most of the bumps responded within 3-7 days at which time they turned dark red, I stopped treating after that and let them heal on their own which took another week or so. No recurrence for my son or nephew. I have also heard you can add a couple cups to a bath and soak for 15-20 each night, might be a good option if there are lots and lots of bumps. Treating each one individually would be torture for both of you. Not sure how long it would take to see results with the bath method. Maybe you could treat the larger ones with the cotton balls and soak the others. I wish you the best.
My son had this for almost two years. Popping or pricking them will only make them leave marks on the skin. I used a drop of tea tree oil on a water soaked disposable cosmetic and applied it twice a day. Once I started using this his skin started clearing up whereas before it looked like it was spreading and getting worse. Clean towel for everyone every time they wash, wash all laundry in as hot as possible water with a cup of vinegar, emphasis on hand washing for everyone using an antiseptic soap (which is better than antibacterial since it doesn't encourage bacteria to change into superbacteria like MRSA. Hibiclens is awesome as is the Lysol hands-free dispenser with the antiseptic soap.
My personal experience with my youngest was that she had to understand that under NO circumstance scratch or pick them! They will bleed, look, gross, and yes...leave scars that resemble acne scars :(
She has 3-4 scars (luckily not in very noticeable areas) because she scratched & picked at them in school and she was only 6-7yrs old. She only had them on her cheeks, shoulders, and chest.
I remember the doctor telling me to wash her skin with nothing but Dial antibacterial soap, not share towels, and to get a pure form of tea tree oil and apply a drop or two directly on the areas. A few actually dried up quickly and 2 had a black "root" come out. This took several weeks to heal. completely. Everyone is different. Don't buy crazy mixtures off the internet. I got my initial info from a doctor who answered my emails from the Cleveland Clinic and showed the emails to our doctor. Good luck.
For us there WAS a magic bullet and it was tea tree oil. Soak a tiny piece of cotton in TTO and put it over it with a bandaid or anything to keep the oil on the skin for a few hours. My daughter had it super mild (2 bumps) but it was gone in 3 days doing this. Also try putting liquid bandage over it as this worked for a friend of mine and also keeps it sealed in the process.
Silver cure ointment - my kids had it bad and eight years later still have awful deep scars. Silver cure was the only thing that made them go away.
My son had them on his thighs. The doc said to wait them out, so we did. I think it took about a year for them to go away. He scratched them but they did not bleed or anything.
I had this myself about five years ago. God only knows where I got it from, and thankfully didn't pass it on to anyone else. It was solely on my thighs, and it didn't itch so much as being incredibly painful, so I am sorry for your young child. It went away on it's own...after about two years. During that time, it would come and go at will, and it sucked. My OB/GYN at the time said there was some sort of medication that could be taken that would get rid of it, but that it was incredibly expensive and insurance probably wouldn't cover it. He did not offer me any sort of "pricking" procedure and that doesn't sound like a great idea to me.
Sorry...ask about the medication. It was actually a medication used to treat some sort of STD which is why insurance wouldn't cover it for this (at least mine wouldn't) and five years later, I'm sorry I don't remember what it's called...but that would be an option.
My kids had it too. My ped said to not worry, that kids build up an immunity eventually. Then we had a bad mosquito summer and my daughter accidentally scratched one of the bumps on her leg which made it spread. When my 2 y/o developed a bump on his back, I took them to a derm who froze them off with "magic juice." it didn't hurt my kids at all and served to jump start their immune system, according to the dr. They never had another outbreak so I would look into that route bc molluscum are super annoying more than anything. Good luck!
